Ellen DeGeneres has cancelled four of her upcoming comedy shows, for reasons that remain unclear.
The Ellen's Last Stand… Up Tour is the former TV host's first major foray back into the limelight, two years after her eponymous talk show was cancelled amid toxic workplace allegations. According to DeGeneres's Ticketmaster page, tour dates in Dallas, San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago have been cancelled.
“Unfortunately, the Event Organizer has had to cancel your event,” the Ticketmaster update reads.
DeGeneres has yet to make a public statement on why these shows were cancelled. Her team has also not provided any insight into the abrupt cancellations. The Dallas show that was cancelled was slated for July 10 and the Chicago show was planned for Aug. 11. Both these dates were the only shows arranged for these cities.
DeGeneres had planned to perform two nights each in San Francisco (July 20-21) and Seattle (July 22-23). For both of these cities, the second tour date has been axed.
The remaining San Francisco show appears to have dozens of tickets still available for purchase, as does the remaining Seattle date, suggesting that low ticket sales may be the reason for the cancellations.
There is only one Canadian show in the Ellen's Last Stand… Up Tour, slated for Aug. 5 in Toronto's Meridian Hall. The Toronto event is mostly sold out. The few remaining tickets cost about $330.
DeGeneres used to be a titan of daytime television with The Ellen DeGeneres Show. She fell from grace in 2020 after employees on the show came forward with allegations they faced racism, intimidation and sexual misconduct at the hands of top producers. Three producers were fired in the aftermath of the bombshell 2020 Buzzfeed News investigation, but The Ellen DeGeneres Show never recovered and ended after 19 seasons.
DeGeneres reportedly addressed her unceremonious exit from daytime television during an Ellen's Last Stand comedy show, joking that she was “kicked out” of showbiz for being “mean.”
“There's no mean people in show business,” the former host was quoted by People and Rolling Stone in April.
“The ‘be kind' girl wasn't kind. That was the headline,” DeGeneres continued, referencing how she used to end all her shows with the phrase “Be kind to one another.”
DeGeneres later commented that the fallout of the 2020 investigation into her show was actually the second time she was “kicked out of show business,” referencing how her sitcom Ellen, which was cancelled in 1998 after she came out as gay.
“For those of you keeping score, this is the second time I've been kicked out of show business.… Eventually they're going to kick me out for a third time because I'm mean, old, and gay.”
DeGeneres apologized to her staff in July 2020 after the toxic workplace allegations emerged.
“On day one of our show, I told everyone in our first meeting that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would be a place of happiness — no one would ever raise their voice, and everyone would be treated with respect,” DeGeneres said. “Obviously, something changed, and I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case. And for that, I am sorry. Anyone who knows me knows it's the opposite of what I believe and what I hoped for our show.”
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